This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Passive inflatable restraint systems are often used in a variety of applications, such as in motor vehicles. When a vehicle decelerates due to a collision or another triggering event occurs, an inflatable restraint system deploys an airbag cushion to prevent contact between the occupant and the vehicle to minimize occupant injuries. Airbag systems typically include an inflator that can be connected to the one or more inflatable airbags positioned within the vehicle, and can rapidly produce a quantity of inflation fluid or gas that can fill the airbag(s) to protect the occupant(s). Such inflatable airbag cushions may desirably deploy into one or more locations within the vehicle between the occupant and certain parts of the vehicle interior, such as the doors, steering wheel, instrument panel, headliner, or the like, to prevent or avoid the occupant from forcibly striking such parts of the vehicle interior during collisions or roll-overs. In particular, driver side and passenger side inflatable restraint installations have found wide usage for providing protection to drivers and front seat passengers, respectively, in the event of head-on types of vehicular collisions. Further, side impact inflatable restraint installations have been developed to provide improved occupant protection against vehicular impacts inflicted or imposed from directions other than head-on, e.g., “side impacts.” Thus, a vehicle can include an inflatable curtain airbag deployed from a headliner of the vehicle, which can inflate to protect the head of the occupant(s) from contact with the side of the vehicle, such as the windows in the event of a sudden deceleration or roll-over. One or more of such inflatable safety restraint devices can be found on most new vehicles.
One particularly common type of inflator device for an airbag system generates gas for the airbag cushion by combustion of a pyrotechnic gas generating material. Another common form or type of inflator device contains a quantity of stored pressurized or compressed gas for release into an airbag. However, such stored gas inflators are typically only useful to inflate airbags with small volumes. Yet another type of a compressed gas inflator is commonly referred to as a “hybrid inflator,” which can supply inflation gas as a result of a combination of stored compressed gas and combustion products resulting from the combustion of a gas generating pyrotechnic material.
As passive restraint systems become incorporated into more applications within vehicles, it would be desirable to have inflator devices that can fill and deploy airbag cushions having larger volumes than those presently used, especially for side-impact and roll-over restraint systems. However, providing adequate inflation to such large volume airbag cushions within the required time has been a particular challenge. It would be desirable to provide a relatively small, lightweight and economical inflator device, such as a hybrid inflator device, for an airbag cushion that exhibits superior and improved inflation performance.